


Only In Gotham

by LillithFox14



Category: DCU (Comics)
Genre: #onlyingotham, Crack, F/F, Other, Some Homophobia in Chapter 2
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-07
Updated: 2021-02-11
Packaged: 2021-03-12 22:28:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 5,566
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29267982
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LillithFox14/pseuds/LillithFox14
Summary: I got all of my prompts from hashtagonlyingotham.
Relationships: Tess Brookes/JJ
Comments: 2
Kudos: 13





	1. Nathan Yates

Nathan was walking back to his apartment, just coming home from a long shift at the hospital, when he noticed that someone was lying in the alleyway's dumpster that he was passing by. When he stopped to take a closer look, concerned for the well-being of whoever it was, he found out that it just wasn’t anybody in the dumpster. It was Red Robin, one of the local vigilantes that have recently made an appearance in Gotham. He lifted him out of the dumpster and checked for a pulse. _Please don’t be dead._ He let out a sigh of relief when he felt the heartbeat. _Thank God._

Now that he knew the guy was alive, he needed to figure out what he was going to do with him. He couldn’t just leave him here, there was no telling who would find him and what they would do when they did. The guy couldn’t be that old either, even with the mask on he could tell that he couldn't be any older than 18. At first glance, he didn't look too bad in shape, just a little beat up. Nothing that warranted a hospital visit. It looked more like he must have passed out from exhaustion or he fainted.

He was guessing that it was the first option by his reputation of always carrying something with caffeine with him. _What am I going to do with him?_ Well, there really was one choice. Nathan took off his jacket and wrapped up the young vigilante, covering him up the best he could, then carried him inside of the building and into his apartment. It was a good thing that he lived where he did, a place where no one asked questions. He had no idea what he would say if anyone did.

He put him down on the couch, well, he dropped him on the couch. For someone so young, he was really heavy. _Now what, genius._ There wasn’t any indication that he would be waking up anytime soon and it was getting late, but was it a good idea to let him wake up alone and in a strange place. What if he woke up thinking that Nathan kidnapped him and then had him arrested? " _You did technically kidnap him,"_ the voice in his head told him. _"Shut up. You got me into this mess."_ But it didn't matter what he thought at this point, his body had already made the decision that he was not going to stay up for much longer.

_Sleep. Now._ Before retreating to his bedroom, he took a pad of sticky notes out of his desk and a black sharpie. ‘FOUND YOU IN A DUMPSTER. YOU'RE WELCOME.’ That should prevent him from freaking out too bad, hopefully.

* * *

It didn’t surprise him to find the couch empty when he woke up, but it did when he found a pot of coffee had been made. It made him chuckle when he also found a freshly cleaned mug on the counter that he knew hadn’t been there earlier, he must have had a cup before leaving. There was also one of his sticky notes attached to the pot, ‘THANKS.’

* * *

_Why me?_ He thought when he saw Nightwing sitting by his door in the hallway of his apartment building. It's only been a week since the Robin incident had gone down and he couldn’t say that he expected anyone else to come by. (Looking back on it, he realized that he had been naïve.) _At least this one isn’t unconscious._ “Hey,” Nightwing said when he moved closer. _Really, that’s all you got. "Hey."_ He looked him over and noticed the way he was resting his arm against his chest, it was obvious it was broken.

“Let’s get you inside before anyone sees you,” he told him as he got out his keys to unlock the door. Nightwing picked himself up and limped into the apartment, apparently he also hurt his leg. “Sit on the couch while I go find the first aid kit.” He listened to him, not that he really had much choice. The first aid kit was in the bathroom, which gave him the privacy that he needed to panic. _Nightwing is in my living room._

He never thought his life would get this weird, but that's what he gets for bringing a vigilante in his home...twice. _He’s still out there waiting for you._ After grabbing the supplies and calming down, he returned to the living room and went to work. “You know that I’m not a doctor, right?” “You’re a nurse at Gotham General Hospital.” Of course, they looked him up. He had been right about the arm, definitely broken. He also twisted his ankle, explaining the slight limp.

Nathan went to the freezer and grabbed an ice pack, “Put this on your ankle, it will help with the swelling. I can make a splint for your arm, but that will only help for a little bit. You need a real doctor.” “Thank you.” “You’re going to need to have someone pick you up, you won’t make it far on your ankle on your own.” “Already on their way.” That was a relief. “Good.” He stood there for a moment, trying to think of what to do next. “Are you hungry?”

He looked surprised, “What?” “I’m going to make something to eat, do you want some?” He didn’t say anything, but Nathan decided he was going to make some for him anyway. Because he always worked late and went in early, all he had was grab-and-go breakfast food. So he got out the most filling item, cinnamon bagels, and strawberry cream cheese. When they came out of the toaster he put the items on the coffee table in front of the couch he was sitting on. Nightwing eyed the food but didn't move.

“Eat. I promise I’m not trying to poison you.” He grabbed one of the bagels and took a big bite to prove it, then Nightwing took one. They ate in silence for a while until he heard the sound of a car pulling up, he got up so he figured that was his ride. “Thanks again, for everything.” “Just try to call ahead or text me or leave a sticky note or something so I have more than bagels on me when you guys come over," he said jokingly. "Will do." He left before he could clarify that he was just kidding. _Ah, fuck._

* * *

True to his word, they came again. His apartment has officially become a safe house to the Bat-Fam (he started to call them after finding out that it was Batman picking them up.) After Nightwing's second visit, he tried to pay him for all of the food and first aid kit supplies that he started buying for when they were over. Nathan told him that he didn't need the money and that it was his way of saying thank you for saving the city _multiple_ times.

He should have expected them to find a way to pay him, they're so stubborn after all. But paying off his student loans was a bit excessive. The finance department told him that they were paid off by a random donor, but he knew that wasn't exactly true. _Maybe I better take it next time._


	2. Elizabeth Rodricks

Trigger Warning: There is the use of a slur in the beginning. Just skip the flashback or the chapter if you don't want to see it.

Elizabeth bolts out of the house, ignoring her mother calling out her name. She doesn’t notice the tears running down her face until she is far from the house. Her hoodie was soaked from the rain, going from a soft grey into dirt black. She looked for a place where she could escape the rain, but it was so late that most places were closed. There were a couple of clubs and bars that were open, but she was too young to be allowed in. All she could do was keep walking until she found a place to stay.

* * * PREVIOUSLY * * *

Elizabeth and Katrina had been best friends since they met in church when they were just little kids, they have been inseparable since. They were partners on every project and in every class, so it made sense that they would also study together. Kat had recently gone through a bad break up with her boyfriend, so they mostly talked about stuff that would cheer her up instead of actually going over the material. It was biology, her best subject, so it didn’t really matter.

She never got a detailed explanation for why she broke up with her boyfriend, only that he had been pressuring her and she just couldn’t take it anymore. “Thanks for asking me over, I really needed a break from my mom.” “She's still trying to get you guys back together?” “Yes. I swear she loves him more than me sometimes.” “You should tell her why, maybe she’ll back off once you tell her what he wanted to do to her sweet _innocent_ catholic daughter.” She said teasingly, making Kat giggle.

“For real though,” she said when the laughter died down, “You do whatever you feel is right, I’ll back you up no matter what you do.” “No matter what?” “No matter what.” “What if I did something bad?” “You couldn’t do _anything_ that would get rid of me. We’re forever.” Katrina leaned in and kissed her. Never in a million years would she have seen that coming, but she had said ‘no matter what’ and she guessed that this qualified. Surprisingly, she made no attempt to pull away or push her off.

All she did was sit there and let it happen. The door opened and both of them jumped back, it was her mom. “What are you doing!?” Her face was red and her nose was scrunched up like she smelled something rotten. “Mom, it’s not-” “How dare you do this, under my roof no less!” Things were about to get worse, she could tell by the crazed look in her eyes. “Run,” she told Kat, who had tears in the corners of her eyes. Thankfully, she listed and managed to get around her mom and out of the house.

“I refuse to have an abomination for a daughter, you hear me! You will never go near that girl again!” She grabbed her arm when she tried to back away, holding her so tightly that it felt like she was about to break her wrist, “My child is not one of those dirty, godless faggots.” That was it. She pushed her away, her mother released her in order to catch herself before falling down. The only thing going through her mind was to get out, now. So, she did.

* * * PRESENT * * *

Finally, she came across a flower shop that still had its open sign on. It was perfect, she loved flowers and plants. She didn’t even wonder why a flower shop would be open this late at night, to relieved that she found a safe place to dry off. It was only when she entered the shop did she notice that something wasn’t right. First of all, there weren’t any people in the store, but there was something else. She couldn’t explain it but it felt like the plants were...watching her. _It’s just in your head. Plants can’t watch people._

She was soon proved wrong when she felt something grab her foot. She instinctively tried to shake it off before looking to see what it was, but her efforts proved futile. When she did look to see what it was, she realized that it was a vine. A thick, dark green vine was wrapped around her leg and started to move higher. _Fuck._ Two people came out from the back of the store, when they got into the light where she could see them she internally cursed out her luck. Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy. 

_I just can’t catch a break today._ “I thought I told you to turn off the open sign.” “I thought ya did it.” _You have got to be kidding me._ They were arguing like she wasn’t even there and she would like it very much to not be here. “Sorry to interrupt, but I’m still here and your vines are really uncomfortable.” They stopped talking and looked at her, obviously a little surprised that she had the guts to speak to them like that. “What should we do with her, Red?” “We could just tie her up and leave her in the back.” 

“Or you could just let me go.” “So you can go to the police and tell them where we are, I think not,” Poison Ivy told her. “Lady, no offense, but I don’t care what you are doing or why you're running from the cops. I just want to go.” “What are ya doing out so late anyway, isn’t it past your bedtime or somethin’?” Harley asked. “That’s none of your business,” she snapped, not feeling like sharing her situation with a couple of villains. “Sorry kid, we can’t just let you go.” 

She honestly didn’t think they were going to let her go, but the news was still disappointing. “Can you at least get the vines off of me?” They hesitated, “I promise I won’t try to run. Even if I did, you would just catch me again.” The vines slowly slid off of her. “Thank you.” Now that she was released, she was able to take off her soaking hoodie. There was no point in having it on anymore now that it was more likely to get her sick than prevent it.

After dropping it onto the ground, Harley got closer to her. There was no way to get away from her, she was in a corner. She couldn’t help but flinch when she touched her arm, there was no telling what was going through her head. She didn’t grab her, just gently raised it up to where she could see it better. It took her a moment to realize that she was looking at the bruises that were forming around her wrist. She pulled away from her and tried to back up even though her back was already against the wall.

Thankfully, she backed away and moved back to her partner. She moved away from the corner of the store and to another part, further away from them. Not knowing what else to do to pass the time, she focused on the plants around her. For such a small business, they had a good selection of products. There were Dahlias, Carnations, Roses, Marigolds, Lilies, and Bellflowers. But the flower that really caught her eye was the small pot of Azaleas.

They were one of the hardest houseplants to keep up with, most people had no idea how to take proper care of them which resulted in the plant dying soon after purchase. The flower was looking a little droopy and the soil was dry. She walked to the door that led to the back of the shop, it was the most likely place to have vinegar. “Where do you think you are going?” “Relax, I’m just getting some vinegar.” “Why are you looking for vinegar?”

“The Azaleas need to be watered and it’s good for them if you add vinegar to the water to keep the soil acidic.” Poison Ivy raised an eyebrow, clearly impressed with her plant knowledge. “I’ll grab it,” she decided and left her alone with Harley. _Great._ “So, ya like plants.” “Yeah.” “That's why ya decided to walk here, by yourself, in the middle of the night.” “Yeah.” “So those marks on your arms have nothin’ to do with ya bein’ here.” “Correct,” there was bitterness in her voice. 

They might not be as bad as she thought so far, but that didn’t mean she was going to open up to them. It’s not like they actually gave a shit about her. Ivy came out with a jug of vinegar and handed it to her, “Here.” She went to the water cooler that was next to the front counter and grabbed one of the cups next to it. Half of the cup was filled with vinegar and the other half was water. The plant’s soil only needed to be damp, too much water would do more harm than good.

The excess of the mixture was left next to the plant. “Time to go, Harls,” Ivy said while looking out the window. “I can go now?” “Afraid not, sweetheart. But don’t worry, you’ll be knocked out until Batsy finds ya.” “What?!” Ivy blew some kind of dust in her face causing her to step back and cough. She instantly felt weak, her legs giving out as she sank on the floor. “Shh, just let it happen,” Harley told her as she dragged her against a wall. If she had the energy to talk, she would have told her to go screw herself.

The last thing she saw before it all went black was them leaving the store and Harley waving goodbye.

* * *

She woke up to the feeling of someone touching her arm. _Why can’t people just leave me alone?_ She asked herself before fully waking up. When she opened her eyes, she almost couldn’t believe who was in front of her. Batman was holding her arm and investigating the bruise that was now a dark shade of purple around her wrist. She yanked her arm away and straightened up, eyes wide and brain not ready to ask the questions she wanted to ask.

“Good. You’re awake,” his voice was deep and rough, just like she would expect from someone dressed up as a giant bat. “Huh?” was all her overwhelmed brain would let her say, later she would blame whatever Ivy dosed her with for the lame response. He stood up and took a step back, revealing that Robin had been standing right behind him. Robin went past him and offered a hand to help her up, she took it. “Are you okay? Did they hurt you?” She shook her head, not yet trusting herself to form words.

He looked back at Batman and she could tell they were having a silent conversation that she wished she knew what was about. He walked around the shop and picked up things off of the floor, mostly bits of the vine that Ivy left and some dirt on the floor, then put them into plastic baggies. When he was done he looked back at Robin and then exited through the back door, he probably came in that way too. “The police should be here soon, they’ll take your statement and then release you.”

Elizabeth did not like that plan, knowing they would call her parents to come to get her and she had no idea how to handle whatever would happen next. “I’m leaving,” she stated, hoping her tone left no room for argument. “We’ve already explained your _situation_ to them. You won’t go back to your mom.” _How did they know?_ “How-” He handed her a note that he took from his pocket. ‘216’ “What does it mean?” “It’s police code for child abuse.” “Oh.”

“Stay here,” he repeated and went to follow Batman. She did decide to stay, mostly because the police arrived a few minutes after they left. They decided to have her stay with her aunt, who took the whole kissed a girl situation a lot better than her mother. She called Kat as soon as she could and they talked, then agreed that they would go on a real date as soon as things died down. A couple of weeks after moving in with her aunt, she heard that Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy had been sent back to Arkham.

She wrote them a thank you letter the next day.


	3. Corry Myers

Corry liked where he lived. It was a small apartment building, people kept to themselves, and the door to the roof was always left unlocked. Some nights he liked to go up there to smoke, sit on the edge and look down at the city below him. His friends always told him that he should be careful, Gotham was full of vigilantes and criminal’s who liked to travel by rooftop, but he never took them seriously. So maybe he did have what happened next coming to him.

He was up on the roof smoking, like usual, sitting at the edge and taking in the view. Then, out of nowhere, a person landed right next to him. It scared him so bad, he fell right over the edge. Everything happened so fast, his brain hadn’t completely proceeded that he was falling to his death. Then someone else grabbed his arm and pulled him onto the fire escape that had been near the spot he was sitting. He looked up at his savior and immediately recognized him, Red hood had saved him. 

“Oh, fuck!” He looked up at the person who had nearly gotten him killed, it was Nightwing. “Nice going there, you almost killed him!” “I didn’t think he would fall!” “You scared the shit out of him! Of course, he fell!” _Nope, this isn’t happening._ He did not just fall off a building and get saved, only to listen to the person who caused the fall and the person who saved him yell at each other about him. It was time to go. _How do I leave without it being awkward?_

“Thank you for not letting me die,” was the best line he could think of. Red Hood turned to face him but didn’t say anything. Then he walked down the fire escape, his heart still pounding in his chest. When he made it to the alley, he swore he could hear him laughing. He never smoked again after that incident, it wasn’t worth the risk of a repeat.


	4. Allison Keenan

Allison has replaced her window four times. _Four times!_ All four of those times they have been broken by Red Hood or the Robins. She understood that they were not doing it on purpose, but they also weren’t actively trying to avoid it either. She was tired of having to replace it over and over again, the cost was starting to become ridiculous, and there wasn’t a way to directly bill Batman. So, she did some research on different qualities of windows and found out that polycarbonate windows were much harder to break.

They were supposed to be nearly impossible to break, so it should be enough to hold against the Robins and Red Hood. _Hopefully_.

* * *

The first time the window's durability was tested it was against Red Hood. She was sitting on the couch and looking out the window when she saw him jump off of the building across the street and grab onto the railing above her window to prevent falling to his death. His feet landed right against the window and if it hadn’t been such high quality, it would have shattered from the impact. Red Hood must have realized this because when it didn’t break, he paused to look at it. The window wasn’t even cracked.

He didn’t spend much more time looking at the window and climbed the railing, then disappeared from her view. She guessed that he probably went back to chasing whoever had jumped before him. She laughed as she took another sip of her tea when she imagined what his face must have looked like under his helmet.

* * *

Two days later, she heard something hit her window. At first, she thought that it must have been a pigeon or some other kind of bird, but then the noise repeated. She ran to see what was going on, then saw that someone was throwing random objects at her window. When she looked down she expected that it was going to be a troublesome teenager, but it was Red Hood. He was digging items out of the dumpster and throwing them at her window. _That dick._

It was no use, none of the items were tough enough to even leave a scratch. But it was still annoying. She looked at him until he made eye contact with her, then proceeded to flip him off. Maybe it wasn’t the wisest thing she has ever done, but it was satisfying to watch his frustration grow. His final attempt of the night was throwing a broken T.V at it, but it still didn’t do anything. She watched him pout for a minute, it looked like he was pouting even without looking at his face, and then he left.

* * *

Of course, that wasn’t the last of his attempts. Every so often she would hear something hit her window and knew that he was up to it again. He had even gone as far as to throw the dumpster at the window, only God knows how he managed that. She was just waiting for the day when he was going to lose it and start shooting, but hopefully, it wouldn’t get that far. Sure, he killed people, but only bad people. The next time that he visited he had someone with him. 

It was one of the Robins, it looked like the younger one that has only been around recently. She thought maybe he was here to help him break the window, what happened next proved her train of thought right and wrong. He picked up the small Robin and threw him at the window. She stepped back in surprise and let out a sharp yelp. _Did that really just happen?_ The kid did the same thing Red Hood had down days prior and grabbed onto the railing. 

“You are going to pay for that, Todd!” he screeched before gracefully getting himself down. “Secret identity, brat!” he yelled before making a run for it. She understood why he ran away when the kid then pulled out two swords and started to chase him. _I should move. Everyone here is crazy._


	5. Tyler Wardle

It was a nice day outside, which was rare in Gotham, so Tyler decided to walk home. Molly walked by his side, careful not to get behind or ahead of him. It was easy to tell that he was a service dog because of the blue vest she wore with a patch that stated ‘WORKING DOG/DO NOT PET’, but not everyone understood or cared. People assumed that because he wasn’t blind that there was no _real_ reason why he would have a service dog, therefore there was no reason not to pet her.

Whenever he explained that she was in fact a real service dog, they always bugged him about what his issues were even though it was none of their business. The truth was, he has epilepsy and severe anxiety, and Molly helps him know if a seizure could be coming and calms him down when his anxiety acts up. So when he saw a middle-aged woman come over with a little girl, he knew that it was going to be a _long_ walk home. “Can my daughter pet your dog?” 

“No, sorry,” he walked away, hoping that was the end of it. “Excuse me. Why not?” _Oh, great._ “Mam, she is a service dog.” “So?” “You can’t pet service dogs otherwise it will distract them from doing their job.” He started to walk faster after explaining, the woman's face told him that she wasn’t going to let it go. “Let my daughter pet your dog!” “I said no,” he repeated. The woman’s daughter looked fine with not being able to pet Molly, so he really didn’t understand what this woman’s problem was.

She followed him for five blocks, no matter how he tried to get away from her and screamed at him the entire time. “Dick!” He had to pick up Molly just to keep her away from her. Tyler could feel a panic attack building inside of him, his only goal at this point was to get home as fast as possible and lock himself in his apartment. The only reason he hasn’t already broken down was because Molly was doing what she was trained to do and nuzzled his chest in an attempt to comfort him.

_It’s only a little further. You can make it._ “Don’t ignore me, asshole,” the woman grabbed his shoulder. Before he could push the woman away or start calling out for help, the grip disappeared and she was ripped off. When he looked back to see why the woman had finally backed off, he saw Nightwing was standing behind him and holding the woman back. “Mam, you need to leave this man alone.” “Not until he lets my daughter pet his dog. It’s the least he could do since I have gone through so much trouble.” 

_She’s psychotic._ Nightwing seemed equally surprised by her words. “Are you serious?” said a voice that was coming from behind him. It was Red Hood. _Has he been there the whole time?_ “You take care of him and I’ll take care of this one,” Nightwing said, sounding agitated. Red Hood gently touched his arm to get his attention, “Concentrate on your breathing. In and out.” He hadn’t noticed how ragged his breathing was until he said that or the tears that were forming in the corners of his eyes.

“You’re safe, she’s gone.” His breathing slowed a little, enough where he was no longer lightheaded. “Good. You're doing great.” _Who knew vigilantes could be so comforting?_ “Can you tell me where you're headed?” “Home. That way,” he pointed down the street where his turn was. “I’m going to come with you, is that okay?” He nodded. Now that Molly was no longer in any danger, he put her down and allowed her to walk beside him.

“What are _you_ doing here?” Robin asked Red Hood, appearing out of nowhere. _What am I, a vigilante magnet?_ “Just walking him home, brat.” Up close, he could tell that he couldn’t have been that old, younger than he was. He looked down at Molly with interest. At first, he thought he was going to try to pet her, but he didn’t move. “Is it okay if I ask you a few questions? About your dog.” “Sure,” he told him, not really knowing what else to say.

That’s what they did for the rest of the walk home, just talked about Molly and her training. He never once asked to pet her. When they got to his building, he heard him say “I wonder if we could train Bat-Dog to be a service animal,” as they walked away.


	6. Tess Brookes

They planned to stay in for the night and have a movie date night, it seemed like the safest option. The last two dates they had gone on all ended up being interrupted by a robbery or whatever villain was most popular at the time. But of course, they could never have a normal night in because it was Gotham and that wasn’t allowed. They were only a couple of minutes into the movie, Red Dragon, (It was her favorite horror movie) when they heard a noise come from the side window. 

Tess went to investigate, thinking that it was probably their neighbor's cat, Mr.Flufferson. Instead, she found a large man dressed in dark clothes on the other side of the window. _Oh for fucks sake._ “Shit,” she said when he noticed that someone was watching him. He started to force the window open, “JJ, call 911 and hide! Now! Her girlfriend listened to her and ran into the bedroom. She went to the kitchen and grabbed a chef knife, her heart was pounding in her chest.

She has lived in Gotham for two years and never experienced a break-in, even though she did take a self-defense class just in case. Her apartment was so close to Crime Alley after all. All of the things that they taught her to do left her mind as she let panic fill her up. He finally got the window open and was about to take a step in when she had an idea. Before he could get inside, she kicked him square in the chest as hard as she could. 

He was so unbalanced and unprepared, he fell back and off of the fire escape under the window. She was so shocked at her own actions that she dropped the knife onto the floor. JJ must have heard the sound of a body dropping because she came out of the room. When she noticed there was no longer someone breaking into their apartment, she rushed to her side to look out the window. “What happened?” It took her brain a moment to come up with a response, “Problem solved.” “Is he dead?” 

She hadn’t thought about that. They looked out of the window and saw the guy had luckily fallen into a dumpster, he moved his arm a little to the side and groaned in pain. “Yeah, he’s alive.” The sound of clapping got their attention and they both looked at the source. Red Hood was standing on the roof of the building across from them, he was laughing. “Oh my god, that was great!” JJ called 911 again to tell them that their presence was no longer necessary, but they might want to send an ambulance.

**Author's Note:**

> Please kudos or a comment if you like this : ) Probably would make my day.


End file.
